The basic goals of this research program are two fold. The first goal is to define the protein components which function to form an initiation complex and to characterize these proteins chemically and physically. The second goal is to define the sequential utilization of these proteins (and thereby their function) in the formation of an 80S initiation complex. Previous studies utilized AUG codon. Current studies are being attempted using globin mRNA as template. This requires the purification of eIF-1, eIF-4A, and eIF-4B to allow assays to be developed to determine the sequential utilization of each of these factors. Currently a major question is which factor(s) is responsible for the ATP hydrolysis necessary for the binding of globin mRNA to ribosomes.